


Coiling Questions

by QuickSilverFox3



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Canon Altering, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1212571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the small things that weren’t questioned that filled him with a burning curiosity that burned away in his chest, replacing his still un-beating heart. The shackles burned around his wrists as he pulled on them, desperate to move the few inches that would give him his freedom, gaze fixed on the swirling patch of bluepurpleblack sky that was just out of reach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coiling Questions

It was the small things that weren’t questioned that filled him with a burning curiosity that burned away in his chest, replacing his still un-beating heart. The shackles burned around his wrists as he pulled on them, desperate to move the few inches that would give him his freedom, gaze fixed on the swirling patch of bluepurpleblack sky that was just out of reach. The words bleed from his mouth, creating indents on his skin that were washed away by the passage of time that slipped by him in the blink of an eye, only to be replaced by new markings of questions that would forever go unanswered and unasked.

A faint crackle permeated the fog that coiled around him, his head snapping up and a wordless howl slipping free as he both recoiled from the foreign noise and, in the same movement, tried to move closer. It happened in a blinding flash and he was pulled from his sanctuary, ripped from safety, ripped from his sanctuary and then he felt nothing, no curiosity, no burning need to know, no swirl of colours in front of sightless eyes, before it all came back to him in a rush and he screamed once, high and panicked before darkness and heat over took him.

“A new man came into town today, dressed in a lab coat and so the scientists who came a few weeks ago have taken him in. You may remember the scientists as they are in the building next to Big Rico’s Pizza. No-one does a slice like Big Rico’s so remember to go there for your City Council mandated weekly slice, dear listeners! The new man has not spoken a word since he arrived here, even though his situation is of great interest to the Sheriff’s Secret Police as they said, and I quote ‘We were not expecting any extra visitors from alternate planes, even those who seem to be a scientist as they are wearing a lab coat.’  
We are being asked to remind everyone that visiting or receiving visitors from an alternate plane without the correct permits and now a word from our sponsors while we wait to hear back from Intern Dana.’  
He blinked his eyes slowly, dots passing in front of them in complex patterns that captivated him for several long heartbeats, the sound strange and echoing to him, until he was staring into a calm gaze of the woman sitting next to his bed.   
“I’m Intern Dana,” she said, smiling reassuringly as he twitched away from her, hands curling into fists around the worn and grubby sleeves, “I was sent by Cecil, from the radio station to see how you were doing if you feel up to communicating.”  
He blinked again, seeing the words fall from her mouth, their colour warm and inviting like the t-shirt she wore and the brightly coloured beads that decorated her headscarf.  
“Where am I?” he whispered, voice almost non-existent and throat scratchy. He ignored the now familiar pain as the question now decorated the clear skin on his back, above his left hip as he carefully pushed himself up onto his elbows, wincing at the pain that flashed down his body. Dana frowned slightly and her mouth moved slightly as he stared around the tiny blank room.   
“You’re in a room upstairs from the lab, next to Big Rico’s pizza in Night Vale, America, Earth. I would tell you the dimension code, but I’m not authorised to know it.”  
“Lab?” he whispered, taking the glass of water offered and inspecting it closely before taking a sip, shuddering at the coolness that slipped down his dry throat.  
“Yes!” she answered a lot faster this time, nodding her head enthusiastically with each word, “The scientists are using it, and they took you in because they think you’ve been sent from out of town to help.” She paused and fixed him with a worried look, leaning forward to inspect his face carefully, “Even if you weren’t, I bet you can learn. You look like you can.”  
“Welcome back dear listeners. I am still waiting to hear back from Intern Dana on our new visitor. I only got a small glimpse of him myself, but from what I could tell, he has curly perfect black hair that makes you ache to run your fingers through it, unlike my own, he has a strong jaw and everything about him seems to be perfectly beautiful.”  
He blinked frantically, Dana’s form blurring and refocusing before he managed to form the correct phrasing, the words lodging in his throat for a long moment, causing his breath to stick before he gasped out, “Are they talking about me?”  
Dana nodded, a mixture of confusion and sympathy on his face before she slowly leaned forward to rest a hand against his, giving him ample time to pull away if he was uncomfortable. He twitched away, fear of the unknown yet known sensation flooding through his veins and arteries and he reacted without thinking as Dana leant backwards and grinned at him, no offense shown on her face or body.  
He tried to say something, anything, but the words were trapped in his chest, beating against the cage of ribs weakly like butterflies as their whispers chorused in his mind:   
I’m not perfect   
They sound like an angel   
I want to see them   
I’m not human.  
They cannot like me

But none of them escaped and he was forced to nod once, moving to push himself up off of the bed, grateful for the clothed elbow Dana offered for support, even though her heat burned him like fire, red coiling off of her skin in unseen coils.  
“We’ll go down and see the scientists, and then I’ll give my report to Cecil once you’re all settled,” she whispered as they made their slow descent out of the tiny room and down the creaking staircase, she leading and he following, occasionally resting a hand on her shoulder to regain his balance, “But you need a name?”  
He frowned, turning the phrase over in his mouth like a newly discovered sweet as hundreds of possibilities whizzed through his mind, names from his past or names from the Void he did not know.  
“Can my name be Carlos?” he asked her, voice stronger and deeper than it was before, having figured out a way to get past the restraint this dimension placed on his tongue.  
“Carlos the Scientist,” she answered, lowering her voice to attempt to mimic the succulent tone heard on the radio earlier, “I’m sure Cecil will like that,” she added, voice returned to normal as she smothered a giggle behind one hand as his face burned from the complex wash of emotions that thundered through him.  
Carlos the Scientist. A new name to add to the hundred he may have worn before it, but what did one more mean to a God? He smiled and nodded at her, the name growing on him and encasing him in a grip tighter than the others before it, a grip that felt smooth and sleek and was a dark purple covered in slowly blinking dark eyes.


End file.
